DEL PRANEŠIMO APIE JUNGTINIU TAUTU KONVENCIJOS DEL VISU FORMU DISKRIMINACIJOS PANAIKINIMO MOTERIMS IGYVENDINIMA LIETUVOJE PATV

DEL PRANEŠIMO APIE JUNGTINIU TAUTU KONVENCIJOS DEL VISU FORMU DISKRIMINACIJOS PANAIKINIMO MOTERIMS IGYVENDINIMA LIETUVOJE PATV Oficialus vertimas 2007 11 23 GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA RESOLUTION No 1094 of 10 October 2007 on the endorsement of the report on the implementation in the Republic of Lithuania of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women Vilnius Implementing paragraph 836 in Table 2 ‘Measures for the Implementation of Obligations under the Programme of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania for 2006-2008’ of the ‘Measures for the Implementation of the Programme of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania for 2006-2008’ approved by Resolution No 1020 of 17 October 2006 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 112-4273, 2006) and Article 18(1)(b) of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 21-549, 1996) ratified by Resolution No I-1035 of 10 September 1995 of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ‘On the Ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women’ (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 76-1764, 1995), the Government of the Republic of Lithuania h a s  r e s o l v e d: 1. To approve the Fourth Report on the Implementation in the Republic of Lithuania of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (as appended); 2. To charge the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the task of submitting, in the prescribed procedure, the above-mentioned Report to the Secretary General of the United Nations. Prime Minister                                                                                 Gediminas Kirkilas Minister of Foreign Affairs                                                             Petras Vaitiekūnas APPROVED by Resolution No 1094 of 10 October 2007 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania FOURTH REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN I. INTRODUCTION 1.   The Government of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Government) hereby submits the fourth periodic report on the implementation in the Republic of Lithuania of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) under Article 18(1)(b) of the Convention (hereinafter referred to as this Report). This Report has been prepared following the Guidelines and General Recommendations for the Preparation of Reports approved by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. This Report contains information on the progress made by the Republic of Lithuania in implementing the Convention in the period from the 4th Quarter of 2004 to the 1st Quarter of 2007 and information according to the Concluding Comments of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women with respect to the initial report and the second periodic report of Lithuania examined by the Committee at its 23rd Session on 12-30 June 2000 in New York, supplementing the information provided in the third periodic report on the implementation in the Republic of Lithuania of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women approved by Resolution No 1497 of 25 November 2004 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 173-6395, 2004) (hereinafter referred to as the Third Report). 2.   This Report was prepared by the Commission set up by the Minister of Social Security and Labour, with members from the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The draft Report was considered by the Commission of Equal Opportunities of Women and Men, which is composed of representatives of not only government institutions but also of NGOs. The draft Report was also introduced to other Lithuania’s NGOs which were present in the sitting of above-mentioned Commission and were provided with the possibility to submit their remarks and comments. II. INFORMATION ACCORDING TO ARTICLES OF THE CONVENTION Article 1 3.   On 18 June 2002, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Seimas) amended and supplemented the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Equal Opportunities of Women and Men (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 112-2100, 1998) (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Equal Opportunities of Women and Men) to set that any discrimination, not only direct but also indirect, shall be prohibited. In 2005, the concept of discrimination was further expanded. From July 2005, discrimination as defined in the Law on Equal Opportunities of Women and Men (as amended by the Law No X-304 of 5 July 2005) covers not only direct and indirect discrimination and sexual harassment but also discrimination on the grounds of sex and instruction to discriminate persons on the grounds of sex, all these forms of discrimination being prohibited. Discrimination on the grounds of sex is defined as undesirable behaviour which offends or might offend a person’s dignity and creates or might create an intimidating, hostile, humiliating or offensive environment. Moreover, it has been laid down that if discrimination on the grounds of sex is also related to family or marital status, this shall be deemed as a particularly discriminatory act. 4.   Protection against discrimination was strengthened. The Law on Equal Opportunities of Women and Men (as amended by the Law No. X-304 of 5 July 2005) sets that a person’s rejection of or submission to discriminatory conduct may not be used as a basis for a decision affecting that person. The Law has also narrowed the exception in the definition of direct discrimination in relation to women and men of the pensionable age: pensionable age of women and men in occupational pension schemes must be equal. In addition, an exception has been added to the definition of direct discrimination, i.e. sale of goods or provision of services exclusively or primarily to persons of one sex shall not be deemed direct discrimination on the grounds of sex when such sale of goods or provision of services is justified by a legitimate aim and the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary. Article 2 a) 5.   The principle of equality between women and men and provisions on gender equality have been consistently integrated into legal acts in a wide range of fields, primarily labour, social security, education and science. The most recent of them are the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Support for Employment (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 73-2762) (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Support for Employment), Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Social Enterprises (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 96-3519, 2004) (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Social Enterprises) and other laws adopted earlier and amended or revised in 2005 and 2006. Laws have in principle ensured gender equality de jure; therefore, most focus is on the implementation of legal acts in practice, through various programmes, projects and measures. Provisions on gender equality have been integrated into Lithuania’s Single Programming Document 2004-2006 approved by the Government’s Resolution No 935 of 2 August 2004 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 123-4486, 2004) (hereinafter referred to as the Single Programming Document), also into the latest programming documents for the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the EU) Structural Funds 2007-2013, thus creating conditions to finance measures aimed at tackling gender equality issues not only from the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the state budget) but also from the EU Structural Funds. b) 6.   Sanctions for discrimination on the grounds sex are being hardened. On 9 November 2004, the Law on Equal Opportunities of Women and Men was supplemented by Article 241, which stipulates that a person who has suffered from discrimination on the grounds of sex or from sexual or other harassment shall have the right to claim financial and moral damages from the responsible persons in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 74-2262, 2000) (hereinafter referred to as the Civil Code). 7.   Efforts are being made to ensure not only de jure but also de facto equality of women and men in all spheres. By Resolution No 1042 of 26 September 2005 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 116-4202, 2005), the Government of the Republic of Lithuania has approved a National Programme for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men 2005-2009. The overall objective of this interinstitutional Programme is the implementation of a complex of measures aimed at ensuring equal opportunities of women and men in all spheres of life. Measures under this Programme are being implemented by all ministries, mostly in cooperation with women NGOs. The Programme aims at addressing, in an consistent, complex and systematic manner, gender equality issues; ensuring gender mainstreaming in all spheres; tackling specific problems of women and men. The main directions of the Programme are: to ensure equal opportunities for women and men in employment, education and science, politics and decision-making; to ensure equal rights, including through the combat against violence against women and trafficking in women; gender mainstreaming in health and environmental protection; to strengthen institutional gender equality mechanisms and methods, including the strengthening of institutional capacities and the improvement of statistics. Many of the Programme’s tasks correspond to the articles of the Convention, and a number of measures are dedicated to further implementation of the requirements under the Convention. Therefore, this Report contains much information on the results of implementation of this multidisciplinary Programme. 8.   One of the priorities of the National Programme for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men 2005-2009 is combating violence against women. As part of this Programme, an analysis of experience of foreign states in the application of legal measures aimed at isolating perpetrators from the family was carried out in 2006. The analysis covered Canadian, German and Austrian laws protecting victims from domestic violence; preliminary proposals to be discussed were developed. Taking into account the conclusions drawn from the above-mentioned analysis of the experience of foreign states and the provisions of the current legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania, a number of legal provisions were being drafted in 2007 to ensure a more effective legal protection of victims of domestic violence, including measures that would create conditions for a longer isolation of perpetrators from the affected family. 9.   Further support is being given to projects implemented by women NGOs, aimed at providing assistance to women who have suffered from domestic violence. In 2005, the above-mentioned Programme co-financed (LTL 80 thou) 12 projects initiated by NGOs, aimed at providing social assistance to victims of domestic violence and working with perpetrators. Social, psychological and legal services were provided to 341 persons, including 314 victims of domestic violence and 27 perpetrators who wanted to quit with violent behaviour. In 2006, the Programme co-financed (LTL 80 thou) 20 projects of NGOs. Social, psychological and legal services were provided to 1245 persons: 1212 women and 33 men. Of this number, 191 persons were offered temporary safe accommodation, psychological counselling (722 hours), legal counselling (240 hours) and social services (1997 hours). 10. Having in mind that the problem of violence against women, particularly domestic violence, is very painful and victims need a complex set of services and assistance, the Government has approved, by Resolution No 1330 of 22 December 2006 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 144-5474, 2006), a National Strategy for Combating Violence against Women (hereinafter referred to as the Strategy) and a Plan of Implementing Measures 2007-2009. The aim of this long-tem Strategy is to reduce, in a consistent, complex and systematic manner and on the national level, domestic violence against women. The main priorities of the Strategy are: improvement of the legal base in the field of combating violence against women; analysis of the situation in the field of domestic violence against women; effective prevention of domestic violence against women; provision of a complex set of assistance to victims of domestic violence against women; sanctions on perpetrators; strengthening of institutional capacities. The goals of the Strategy have been set for the period until 2015, and measures for the implementation of the Strategy will be developed every three years. The first plan of measures covers the period of 2007-2009. 11. The implementation of measures under the Strategy was started at the beginning of 2007. For the purpose of reviewing and improving legal acts, a working group was set up by Order No 1R-352 of 13 September 2007 of the Minister of Justice; the working group is responsible for conducting an analysis of the current laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania governing the eviction, for any domestic violence, of perpetrators from the premises owned by the family, e.g. the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 89-2741, 2000) (hereinafter referred to as the Criminal Code), the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 37-1341, 2002), the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 36-1340, 2002), etc. On the basis of this analysis and the analysis of legal acts referred to in paragraph 8 of this Report, proposals will be prepared for a more effective legal protection of victims of violence, including for measures creating the conditions for a longer isolation of perpetrators from the family. 12. Provision of a complex set of support to victims of domestic violence is a priority of the Strategy. One of the objectives of the Strategy is to seek that victims of domestic violence are given the necessary temporary safe accommodation. This objective is being implemented by promoting the establishment and supporting at least one institution or organisation in each county to provide social services to victims of domestic violence and to ensure cooperation between the institutions concerned; this measure of the Strategy was started in 2007. To ensure the provision of a complex set of assistance to victims of domestic violence against women, 21 projects of municipal or women NGOs were selected, by way of tender conducted in 2007, and supported. These projects aim at providing women who have suffered from domestic violence with safe accommodation, qualified psychological assistance, legal counselling, social assistance or other required support. LTL 500 thou were allocated in the state budget to support such projects. The results of project implementation are reported annually. 13. Since 2004, a toll-free telephone hot-line has been available for battered women. The line is financed from the state budget and run by the Social and Psychological Assistance Centre in Klaipėda. As laid down in the Government’s Resolution No 1054 of 2 October 2007 amending Resolution No 1330 of 22 December 2006 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania ‘On the Approval of the National Strategy for Combating Violence against Women and the Plan of Implementing Measures 2007-2009’ (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 106-4341, 2007), continuous (24 hours a day) specialised assistance by telephone shall be ensured for battered women countrywide from 2008 on. 14. Efforts to combat violence against women would not be sufficiently effective if due attention was not given to the work with perpetrators covering not only the application of sanctions but also the development of alternative measures of impact. One of the objectives of the Strategy is the improvement of application of alternative measures of impact on perpetrators and the promotion of activities of organisations dealing with perpetrators who want to quit with violent behaviour. As part of implementation of measures under the Strategy, 6 projects dedicated to the work with perpetrators wishing to quit with violent behaviour were supported in 2007. LTL 100 thou were allocated in the state budget to support these projects. 15. Women NGOs are well performing in the field of combating violence against women. One of the objectives of the Strategy is to support organisational activities aimed at preventing domestic violence against women and ensuring close cooperation between law enforcement officers and institutions providing legal, social, psychological and medical assistance to the victim as well as coordination of actions in dealing with domestic violence against women. 13 projects aimed at combating violence against women implemented by women NGOs were supported in 2007. These projects will be completed in the end of 2007; LTL 400 thou were allocated in the state budget to support these projects. 16. Women organisations successfully implement projects supported by international funds, aimed at preventing violence against women and giving assistance to victims of violence. In 2005-2006, the association ‘Women’s Issues Information Centre’ (hereinafter referred to as the WIIC) implemented, in cooperation with partners from the Nordic and Baltic states, the project ‘Analysing Good Practices and Developing Cooperation to Combat Violence against Women in 5 Baltic and Nordic states’ under the programme of Community action (2004 to 2008) to prevent and combat violence against children, young people and women and to protect victims and groups at risk (the Daphne II programme) adopted by Decision No 803/2004/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 21 April 2004 (OJ 2004, Special edition in Lithuanian, Chapter 05, Volume 05, p. 15). As part of this project, national working groups were set up in each country, bringing together a number of institutions, both governmental and non-governmental, directly involved in combating violence against women and children. As a result of the project, a Nordic-Baltic cooperation network for combating violence against women was created. The network is supported from the state budget, with annual allocations of LTL 10 thou. 17. Since 2004, the WIIC has been providing free-of-charge legal counselling services to women under the project ‘Legal Counselling and Information for Women’ implemented in cooperation with the Legal Aid Centre for Women, Oslo. The goal of the project is to provide legal counselling to women (particularly those who have suffered from domestic violence) who do not have access to legal information for economic or social reasons, or to direct them to other relevant institutions that might help them. 18. Prevention of violence against women is being strengthened. Police officers in cooperation with other institutions concerned (child rights’ protection services, social workers in wards, women crises centres) are continuously engaged in counselling-educational activities. Local police inspectors keep a watch on persons who often spark conflicts, and record their data in the district files maintained by local police inspectors. In 2005-2006, the Chief Police Commissariat of Klaipėda participated in the preventive-educational project ‘Who Will Protect Me’ initiated by the Child Rights’ Protection Service of the Klaipėda Municipal Administration and the Child Crises Centre, targeted at families subjected to violence. As part of this project, violent parents were given lectures about alternatives to physical punishments. Under this project, more raids on families at social risk and families with underage foster children were undertaken. 19. In 2006, Vilnius town police officers participated in the international Polish-Latvian-Finnish-Lithuanian project ‘Stop – no more tolerance to the collusion of silence! First contact police officers as allies for domestic violence victims’. Seminars were organised in each participating country to discuss the need to join efforts in combating domestic violence, and new methods of prevention and cooperation with NGOs. Lithuania was actively involved in the campaign for combating violence against women launched by the Council of Europe in November 2006. Objectives of the campaign have been mirrored in the goals of the Strategy. For the implementation of these goals, the Strategy provides for educational, preventive and other relevant measures, including awareness campaign against violence; the implementation of these measures was started in the beginning of 2007 and will be continued until 2009. 20. By the data of the IT and Communications Department under the Ministry of the Interior about women victims of criminal acts, 464 women were victimised by their husbands or cohabitants in 2005, with 74% of them aged 30 years or above, and 448 women in 2006, with 75% aged 30 years and above (see Tables 1 and 2 in the Annex). 21. Efforts are being made to draft a special law for combating violence against women. By Decision No 1315 of 13 December 2006 of the Board of the Seimas, a working group was set up to draft a Conceptual Framework for the Protection against Domestic Violence and related amendments to relevant legal acts. The purpose of the Conceptual Framework for the Protection against Domestic Violence is to pave the way for a Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Protection against Domestic Violence (hereinafter referred to as the Law on the Protection against Domestic Violence). The Law on the Protection against Domestic Violence (and the related amendments to other relevant legal acts) will serve as the basis for the effective enforcement and protection of inherent human rights with a view to eliminating domestic violence. c) 22. Both women and men affected by direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of sex, harassment based on sex or sexual harassment have the right to lodge a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman about a violation of equal rights. A complaint is investigated within a month; when necessary, the duration of investigation may be extended for another one month. The Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman has been investigating complaints about discrimination on various grounds since 2005; most complaints in 2005 and 2006 were about discrimination on the grounds of sex. In 2005, 33 complaints were lodged about discrimination on the grounds of sex, with 3 of them being about sexual harassment; in 2006, these numbers were 29 and 2, respectively. The Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman imposed sanctions for violations of the Law on Equal Opportunities of Women and Men on 4 persons in 2005 and 1 person in 2006. Decisions regarding other complaints were as follows: for about 30% complaints, warnings were given; for about another 30% complaints, the violators were urged to discontinue actions which violate equal rights or repeal the related act; and for another 30% complaints, investigations were discontinued because of the lack of objective evidence that the violations were actually committed. 23. A person affected by discrimination on the grounds of sex has the right to address to courts, not only to the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman. By the data of the National Courts Administration, no cases directly related to the discrimination on the grounds of sex were investigated by national courts in 2005-2006. d) 24. As laid down in the Law on Equal Opportunities of Women and Men, public authorities and institutions must ensure, within their competence, that equal rights for women and men are guaranteed in all legal acts drafted and adopted by them, and draw up and implement programmes and measures aimed at ensuring equal opportunities of women and men. e) 25. Amendments to the Law on Equal Opportunities of Women and Men adopted in 2005 (Law No X-304 of 5 July 2005) have tightened the employer’s duty to ensure equal rights of women and men. The Law imposes a duty on the employer to take measures to protect the employee from hostile treatment, negative consequences and any other mistreatment as a response to the employee’s complaint about discrimination. f) 26. When the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman detects, during investigation of complaints about discrimination on the grounds of sex, that a legal act is in conflict with the principle of equal opportunities for women and men, it shall have the right to address the appropriate institution and advise it to repeal or amend such legal act. There are from 8 to 10 instances every year, when the Office advises to repeal or amend legal acts violating equal rights of women and men. Article 3 27. In addition to the National Programme for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men 2005-2009 which addresses gender equality issues in a number of different fields, other programmes adopted by the Government and being implemented also provide for measures aimed at ensuring gender equality, including special measures for the improvement of situation of women. Such other gender-mainstreamed programmes include, inter alia, the National Strategy for Mitigating the Consequences of the Population Ageing approved by the Government’s Resolution No 737 of 14 June 2004 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 3501-95, 2004); the National Strategy of the Demographic (Population) Policy approved by the Government’s Resolution No 1350 of 28 October 2004 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 159-5795, 2004); the National Programme for the Mother and Child for 2007 approved by Order No V-561 of 5 July 2007 of the Minister of Health (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 77-3107, 2007); and the Programme for the Prevention and Control of Trafficking in Human Beings for 2005-2008 approved by the Government’s Resolution No 558 of 19 May 2005 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 65-2333, 2005). 28. By Resolution No 1270 of 22 November 2005 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 139-5019, 2005), the Government of the Republic of Lithuania has approved a National Lisbon Strategy Implementation Programme. Goals of this Programme include the strengthening of partnerships, implementation of more flexible working arrangements, ensuring of adequate, safe and healthy working conditions, improvement of job efficiency, ensuring of higher supply of skilled labour force, increasing of internal labour mobility, promotion of life-long learning and primary vocational and continuous training, improvement of the reconciliation of work and family life. These goals are being pursued by improving legislation in the field of labour relations and employment policies; improving working arrangements; implementing measures aimed at promoting flexible forms of organisation of pre-school and pre-primary education and educational assistance to ensure child education, care and attendance and to create conditions for parents with family obligations to participate in the labour market; promoting corporate social responsibility and the development of family-friendly jobs. 29. The Government has approved, by Resolution No 1002 of 13 September 2005 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 112-4091, 2005), Measures for 2005-2006 for the Implementation of the National Action Plan for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion for 2004-2006, aimed at improving the situation of the most disadvantaged groups of the public, enhancing their capacities and reducing poverty and social exclusion. These Measures pursue the goals of providing women and men belonging to poor and socially excluded groups with not only material goods or social services, but also opportunities to acquire adequate education, receive good quality health services, have a housing meeting the established public standards, safe and healthy working conditions, the possibility to choose and to influence decision-making in the most important fields of life. Particular attention is given to single mothers, battered women, victims of trafficking in human beings and vulnerable women groups. 30. By the data of the Department of Statistics under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Department of Statistics) which has conducted a survey on income and living conditions in 2005, women’s poverty risk was 21%; this did not differ much from men’s poverty risk which was 20%. Social benefits have helped to reduce the poverty risk and its difference between men and women. Poverty risk before social benefits differed between men and women by two percentage points and stood at 27% for women and 25% for men. 31. By Resolution No 948 of 5 September 2007 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 98-3977, 2007), the Government has approved a Plan of Measures for 2008-2010 for the Implementation of Family Welfare under the National Strategy of the Demographic (Population) Policy, which aims at: increasing employment of young people and developing flexible working arrangements; creating conditions for women and men to reconcile work and family life; improving child care and educational services; developing capacities of families to cope with psychological and social problems; ensuring safety of the child; enhancing the choice of housing for families with children; reducing poverty and social exclusion of families; analysing family birth developments and factors; determining the need for support to families; fostering common responsibility of the community and institutions for educating children. 32. Gender equality in all spheres is the objective of the National Programme for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men 2005-2009 which has the following tasks: to change the stereotypes about men’s and women’s roles in the economic life of the country; to create conditions for women and men to reconcile work and family life as well as professional military service and duties in the family; to improve opportunities for women to restart career after a longer absence from the labour market and employment opportunities for older women; to improve opportunities for women to start and develop a business and to promote more active economic participation of women; to stimulate employers to set equal pay for equal work to men and women; to promote social partnership and develop social dialogue by ensuring gender equality in the labour market; to integrate gender equality issues in formal and non-formal education; to ensure better access for women to education, career, skill development; to enhance opportunities for women to hold managing and decision-making positions; to promote active participation of women in the social and political life; to improve the existing legal base providing for a longer isolation of a perpetrator from the family and governing its enforcement mechanism; to support NGO projects, especially those of crises centres, aimed at providing social assistance to victims of domestic violence and dealing with perpetrators; to address specific health problems of women and men; to seek a longer life expectancy of men, i.e. to reduce the gap between men’s and women’s average life expectancy; to educate and raise awareness on family planning and reproductive health issues, especially in rural areas; to ensure gender mainstreaming in the environment protection; to promote cooperation between central and municipal authorities and institutions, and educational and science institutions and NGOs, aimed at ensuring gender equality; to seek to strengthen the institutional mechanism of enforcing equal opportunities of women and men on the county and municipal levels; to strengthen civil servants’ and other personnel’s capacity to ensure equal opportunities of women and men; to improve skills of teachers, law enforcement and law-and-order officers and environmental specialists on gender equality issues; to spread, on the international level, Lithuania’s experience in ensuring equal opportunities of women and men; to conduct an extended assessment of developments in the position of women and men; to improve the collection and availability of statistical information segregated by sex, in cooperation with other institutions and NGOs collecting information and conducting surveys. The implementation measures of this Programme are financed from the state budget, also from the EU Structural Funds. 33. The implementation of the National Programme for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men 2005-2009 has yielded positive results: growing level of women employment, decreasing women unemployment, shrinking gap between men and women employment. By the data of the Department of Statistics, the gap between women and men employment has shrunk from 7.6% in 2005 to 5.3% in 2006. Women employment rate has grown from 59.4% in 2005 to 61% in 2006, thus exceeding the target for 2010 set in the Lisbon strategy (60%). Women unemployment rate has dropped from 8.3% in 2005 (cf. 8.2% for men) to 5.4% in 2006, below the unemployment rate of men (5.8%) (see Tables 9, 10, 11 and 12 in the Annex). Women now have more employment opportunities, particularly in rural areas, and better conditions to start and develop a business. Women are actively taking the opportunities to find a job or start a private business. However, the share of women-business managers accounted for only 26%, as shown by the SME survey conducted by the Department of Statistics in 2006. By the data of the Statistical Office of the European Communities (hereinafter referred to as Eurostat) presented in the Report from the European Commission to the Council, European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions in 2006, Lithuania takes the fourth place by the employment gap between men and women in the EU. By the rate of employment of older women, Lithuania takes the eighth place in the EU. 34. Conditions for reconciliation of family and work duties are being improved. By the rate of employment of women with children under 12 years, Lithuania took the second place in the EU in 2006. In Lithuania, this issue was given the top priority out of eight other themes eligible for support under the EQUAL initiative of the European Communities. The EQUAL initiative has supported 7 projects focusing on the reconciliation of work and family life and on the reintegration of men and women into the labour market by developing more flexible and efficient working arrangements and implementing support measures. About LTL 9.2 million were made available to finance these projects. Under these projects, a model of a family-friendly workplace was developed; it will be applied in 2007-2013. In 2006, 20 projects of women NGOs and other institutions and organisations were supported from the European Social Fund which has contributed LTL 13.2 million for this purpose. These projects aimed at promoting employment of women, particularly older women and those who wanted to restart career after maternity leave; promoting gender-balanced participation in decision-making; changing the traditional stereotypes about men’s and women’s roles in the economic activity; reducing the horizontal segregation in the labour market and the pay gap between men and women. 35. In Lithuania, women’s education level continues to be higher than that of men. The share of women studying in Lithuania’s higher schools was 59.9% in 2005 and 60% in 2006. By Eurostat data of 2006, the share of women aged 18 to 24 years who left school prematurely without having acquired secondary education is much lower than that of men: 7% of women and 13.3% of men. Compared to 2000, the number of such women has gone down much faster than that of men. The share of women aged 18 to 24 years who left school prematurely without having acquired secondary education in this age group has dropped from 14.9% to 7%, whereas the corresponding share of men has dropped from 18.5% to 13.3%. 36. Capacities of civil servants in addressing gender equality issues are being strengthened. In 2005-2006, a training course on gender equality issues was organised for civil servants of many ministries. In 2006, about 300 servants participated in training courses organised under different projects. 37. Cooperation with Lithuanian women NGOs is being strengthened. The Government’s Resolution No 198 of 13 February 2007 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 23-883, 2007) has provided for true membership of women and men NGOs in the Commission for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men. Pursuant to the Regulations of this Commission, women and men NGOs have the right to independently select and delegate up to 4 representatives to the Commission. Women NGOs have delegated 2 representatives to the Commission. The personal composition of the Commission for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men has been approved by Order No A1-131 of the Minister of Social Security and Labour of 14 May 2004 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 54-2114, 2007). The Government has financed the Fourth Lithuanian Women Conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the First Lithuanian Women Conference. The Fourth Women Conference was attended by over 2000 women from all regions of the country; the National Programme for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men 2005-2009 financially supported the dissemination of the results of the Conference in smaller towns of all regions. During this dissemination campaign, 22 towns were visited; meetings were attended by over 1000 women and men, rural communities, NGOs. The main purpose was not only to disseminate the results of the Conference, but also to promote a more active de facto implementation of equal opportunities of women and men on the local self-government level. Annual allocations are budgeted in the state budget for supporting membership of Lithuania’s women organisations in the European Women’s Lobby. Support has also been given to participation of women organisations in the Fourth Conference of the Nordic and Baltic states ‘WoMen and Democracy’. In 2001, this conference was held in Vilnius. Since 2005, the state budget has been supporting the Nordic-Baltic network of women NGOs for combating violence against women. 38. Sex statistics is being improved. The statistical publication ‘Women and Men in Lithuania 2005’ published by the Department of Statistics in 2006 gives, in addition to the main sex indicators, information about domestic violence and crime. Taking user needs into account, the data is segregated there by county, municipality and EU Member State. 39. Lithuania’s achievements in the field of gender equality are positively evaluated on the international level. In the Global Gender Gap Report published by the World Economic Forum in the end of 2006, Latvia and Lithuania were ranked best from among the new Member States: Latvia was ranked as number 19, and Lithuania as number 21. 40. The highest acknowledgement of Lithuania’s achievements in the field of gender equality was the decision reached by common consent of representatives of governments of the EU Member States on 11 December 2006 (effective since 18 January 2007) to establish the European Institute for Gender Equality in Vilnius. The European Institute for Gender Equality will be an independent gender equality agency of the EU. The Institute will provide technical-informational assistance to the Commission and the EU Member States on gender equality issues; collect, systemise and analyse information, statistical and research data; develop methodological gender mainstreaming tools; organise conferences, events, etc. The Institute will start operations in 2008. 41. Gender mainstreaming in different spheres is tackled by a number of projects implemented by women NGOs and public and private institutions and organisations. Priority is given to the development of gender equality on the local level. The Social Innovation Fund and the Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations for the Protection of Women’s Human Rights operating under coordination of the Fund are among the most active women organisations operating in this field. The Social Innovation Fund annually organises round-tables in all counties, discusses gender equality issues, collects and systemises information received and makes constructive proposals to the Government regarding gender equality problems to be addressed on the local level. Many projects are financed not only from the state budget, but also from the EU Structural Funds or other international funds. Gender equality on the local level is addressed by the project ‘Equality for Local Development: Gender Mainstreaming in Municipalities’ supported from the EU Structural Funds and the state budget. The project covers the period of 2006-2007 and is implemented by the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Security and Labour and other partners. The project pursues the following goals: to train and improve gender mainstreaming skills in municipal work; to increase gender sensitivity in local administration policies; to foster a debate on the advantages of and the need for gender equality. Article 4 Paragraph 1 42. Legal preconditions have been created in the Republic of Lithuania to apply special measures to enforce gender equality. As laid down in Article 2(4)(6) of the Law on Equal Opportunities of Women and Men, specific temporary statutory measures which aim at accelerating de facto equality between men and women and which are to be discontinued once equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men have been de facto achieved shall not be considered discrimination on the grounds of sex. However, the application of such special measures in practice is problematic. 43. One of the reasons for inadequate application of these measures is legal. The special measures must be set in a special law, but constitutional law experts are of the opinion that the setting of special measure in a law might constitute a conflict with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 33-1014, 1992) (hereinafter referred to as the Constitution). To enforce gender equality in politics, there have actually been proposals to set special measures in laws. However, in the opinion of constitutional law experts, a law which sets a quota on candidates of one sex to the Seimas is in direct conflict with the constitutional principle of equality of all persons. Therefore, they proposed to amend the Constitution first, before setting in laws the special measures for the de facto equality between men and women. The Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman has received a complaint about the possibility to apply special measures; the complaint was rejected as no violation was established. 44. In Lithuania’s higher education system, no special measures are applied to ensure de facto equality between men and women. Equal conditions are ensured in Lithuania both for men and women to choose a profession, to study under the same curricula, to take the same examinations as well as to have equal access to study grants, education, diplomas, post-graduate studies, etc. Article 5 a) 45. One of the main tasks of the National Programme for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men 2005-2009 is to change the traditional stereotypes about men’s and women’s roles in the economic activity. To implement this task, seminars are organised annually in cooperation with the Gender Studies Centre of Vilnius University for staff of the State Labour Inspectorate, labour market institutions, municipalities and social partners. The seminars target at changing the stereotypes about the role of men and women in the economic activity that affect the employability of men and women and add to the gap in employment, wages and economic position between men and women. 46. In 2005-2006, the Ministry of Culture has supported 19 NGO projects promoting non-stereotypical attitudes towards men’s and women’s roles. LTL 37 thou were given from the state budget to support these projects. 47. In 2005-2006, the Pedagogues Professional Development Centre implemented a number of qualification programmes which included such topics as the elimination of discriminatory social and cultural patterns and educational measures of impact in family education and in fostering proper understanding of the roles and responsibilities of sexes: ‘Development of Life Skills’ (attended by 80 general education school teachers), ‘Analysis of Family and Sexuality Education Programme’ (120 general education school teachers), ‘Physical, Emotional and Sexual Abuse of Children’ (100 general education school teachers), ‘Assistance to Abused Children’ (20 social pedagogues), ‘Social Discrimination among Children and Adolescents. Promotion of Children’s and Adolescents’ Motivation for Full Life and Education’ (40 class tutors, general education and vocational school social pedagogues). 48. To change the stereotypical attitudes and to enhance accessibility and efficiency of psychological assistance, 53 pedagogical-psychological offices have been set up within municipalities; they are fully operational and employ increasingly more staff. These services provide consultations to children, families and schools. Educational establishments increasingly set up positions of a social pedagogue, psychologist, assistant teacher, other specialists providing assistance. An important role in the formation of cultural behavioural patterns is played by class tutors; other school staff also have much influence on children’s self-valuation and self-cognition. 49. Much effort and time will have to be spared to change the traditional stereotypes. To address this issue, EU Structural Funds are used to support projects implemented by women organisations, research institutions and other organisations. One of the most successful projects is the ongoing project ‘Stereotypes of Gender Roles in Employment: Extensive Monitoring and Education System’ implemented, from 2006 to 2008, by the Gender Studies Centre of Vilnius University. The goal of the project is to change, coherently and professionally, traditional gender stereotypes that have a negative impact on equal opportunities of women and men in the field of employment. 50. The Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman takes an active part as a coordinator or partner in projects coordinated by other organisations, aimed at changing the stereotypes about the role of men and women in the society and their image in the mass media. One of such projects is the project ‘Innovative Strategies of Educating Social Partners Seeking to Implement the Equal Opportunities Principle in Practice’ implemented by the Women Employment Information Centre of Kaunas in 2006-2007. The project pursues the following goals: to raise public awareness and promote intolerance for any manifestations of discrimination on the grounds of sex; to change the stereotypical attitudes towards men’s and women’s roles in the society and towards various excluded groups; to encourage men to take equal responsibility for children; to change the employer’s attitude towards women as a risk group. 51. The staff of the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman actively participate in radio and TV broadcasts propagating equality of women and men, organise meetings with the public as well as seminars and other events. They analyse the image of a woman and a man portrayed in the mass media and the developments in the men’s and women’s roles in the modern society; they also cooperate in organising trainings for police officers, public authorities and municipal staff on the issue of gender equality. 52. Since 2006, the association ‘Women Crises Centre of the County of Kaunas’ (hereinafter referred to as the Kaunas County Women Crises Centre) has been implementing the project ‘Gender Equality through Elimination of Stereotypes’. The goal of this project is to ensure equal opportunities of women and men in occupational and community activities by changing the stereotypes about women’s and men’s roles in the economic activity of the county. The project’s target group is persons who might play the most important role in changing the stereotypes about women’s and men’s roles in the economic activity. In the same year, the Women Employment and Information Centre of Anykščiai launched the project ‘Formation of Women’s Social Skills and Career with the Aim of Improving their Social Status, Independence and Positive Self-Evaluation’. 53. Advertising as one of public information media also plays a role in the formation of the woman’s and man’s image. The Law on Equal Opportunities of Women and Men prohibits such advertising of goods and services which would make the public to form an opinion that one sex is superior to another; the Law also prohibits discrimination of consumers on the grounds of sex. However, advertising in Lithuania is not gender-neutral yet. 54. Complaints about advertisements of goods and services accounted for 9% of all complaints lodged with the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman in 2005 and about 10% in 2006. These advertisements often portrayed women stereotypically, i.e. by showing up certain parts of the body, emphasizing weakness, portraying a woman as an easy-going and unintelligent creature capable of only luring and seducing men. In advertisements, women are often equated with objects, e.g. advertisements offer a choice: either you choose the product advertised or an attractive woman. In particular, parts of a woman’s body are often equated and compared with the products advertised. Such disrespectful portrayal of a woman in advertisements is complained about both by individual women and by women NGOs. 55. Having investigated a complaint, the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman always warn the creator of such offensive advertisement or the advertiser about the discriminatory character of the advertisement and try to explain the substance of the unethical advertisement. Advertisers and creators of advertisements often consult the Office in advance about the ethnicity of the future advertisement and discuss how to create the advertisement and how to portray the products advertised so that the public does not form an opinion that a certain group of persons is superior to other groups. b) 56. Efforts are made to foster equal responsibility of women and men in the upbringing of their children and equal division of duties in the family. On 1 July 2006, amendments to the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Labour Code (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 64-2569, 2002) (hereinafter referred to as the Labour Code) (as amended by the Law No X-660 of 8 June 2006) came into force; the amendments provide for the possibility for men to take paternity leave. Since then, pursuant to Article 1791 of the Labour Code, men can take paternity leave for the period of one month from the date of birth of the child. On 1 July 2006, amendments to certain articles of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Organisation of the National Defence System and Military Service (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 49-1325, 1998) (as amended by the Law No X-662 of 8 June 2006) came into force; the amendments provide for the possibility for men in the professional military service to take paternity leave. 57. During the paternity leave mentioned in paragraph 56 above, a paternity benefit is paid (pursuant to the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Sickness and Maternity Social Insurance (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 111-3574, 2000)). A father is eligible to a paternity benefit if he: is insured in accordance with Article 4(1) of that Law; has been given, in accordance with the procedure laid down in laws, a paternity leave until the child is one month old; has been covered by sickness and maternity social insurance for at least 7 months within the period of 24 months immediately proceeding his first paternity; is married to the mother of the child. At present, there is a draft law replacing the latter condition to cover fathers who are not married to the mother of the child. The paternity benefit amounts to 100% of the compensatory salary of the benefit recipient. The benefit may not be lower than one-third of the insured income of the current year applicable in the month in which the paternity leave was granted. 3085 men took paternity leave in the 2nd half of 2006 and 4207 in the 1st half of 2007. 58. If it is impossible to grant paternity leave to a professional military serviceman serving in a military unit of international operations, due to the location of the military unit or its readiness requirements, he will be paid a one-off benefit of the amount of his average salary calculated in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Government. 59. On 13 October 2005, amendments to Article 59 of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Organisation of the National Defence System and Military Service (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 122-4362, 2005) came into force; the amendments provide for a longer parental leave for professional military servicemen and repeal the provision that if at the end of the parental leave there are no assignments commensurate with the serviceman’s qualifications, the serviceman shall be transferred to the reserve. The amendments provide that parental leave shall be granted until the child is three years old; after the parental leave, the serviceman shall be assigned to the position commensurate with his rank. 60. The possibility to reconcile work and family duties is an essential prerequisite for promoting common responsibility of women and men for the upbringing of their children. One of the main tasks of the National Programme for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men 2005-2009 is to create conditions for women and men to reconcile work and family duties. Measures aimed at implementing this task include the improvement of legislation, organisation of seminars for social partners about application of flexible working arrangements, educational events aimed at informing families on the possibilities to take parental leave, encouragement of fathers to take not only paternity leave but also parental leave until the child is three years old. 61. As part of implementation of projects promoting the reconciliation of work and family duties supported from the EQUAL Community initiative, 500 persons with family duties were given the possibility to reconcile work and family duties, to retain their jobs or to get a job. 450 of them participated in the training to receive or improve their professional qualifications, special professional knowledge and skills. 130 workers, specialists and volunteers acting in the field of reconciliation of work and family duties participated in training courses. A model of a family-friendly workplace was developed. 62. Since 2005, the Gender Studies Institute of Šiauliai University has been implementing one of the most successful projects ‘Family Universe: Family-Friendly Organisation’, which aims at creating a family-friendly studying and working environment in Šiauliai University, by developing and testing the innovative methodology and measures promoting the reconciliation of between work and family life and changing the stereotypes about gender roles in the family and work. 63. Since 2005, the WIIC has been implementing the project ‘FORWARD! Family and Work Reconciliation Development’ aimed at reducing exclusion of families with young children, by applying modern good practices and influencing political decisions on the grounds of such practices. Project target groups are low-income complete and incomplete families with young children: 60 families in total, 40 of them living in urban areas and 20 in rural areas. Project objectives are: to develop, by using international experience, and test 2 models reconciling work and family duties, one of them to be developed for rural and the other for urban communities. 64. In 2004-2005, the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman was implementing the EU-supported project ‘Modern Men in the Enlarged Europe’. The project was extended to 2005-2006 and was renamed into ‘Modern Men in the Enlarged Europe: Family-Friendly Working Environment’. The main goals of these projects are to encourage men to reconcile work and family duties and to more actively participate in the family life, and to encourage employers to introduce innovative working arrangements facilitating a better reconciliation of work and family duties and to take new initiatives to create a more productive working atmosphere. Article 6 65. The Government continues to pursue consistent and targeted policy of control and prevention of trafficking in human beings in conformity with international legal norms. Below is detailed information on the situation in Lithuania in the field of legally regulated and actual combat against trafficking in human beings. 66. In 2004, Lithuania ratified the Optional Protocol of 2000 to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, by passing the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Ratification of the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 108-4028, 2004). The provisions of the Protocol came into force in the Republic of Lithuania on 5 September 2004. On 7 February 2007, the Government approved, by Resolution No 208 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 26-957, 2007) the Report on the Implementation of the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. 67. Lithuania actively participated in the elaboration of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. The Convention was opened for signature by the Member States on 16 May 2005, at the 3rd European Summit in Warsaw. The Convention regulates prevention of trafficking in human beings, protection of the victims, and criminal liability of the traffickers. The Convention is gender-mainstreamed, with much focus on assistance to the victims of trafficking in human beings and their reintegration into the society. Seeking to accede to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings as soon as possible, Lithuania has already initiated all actions necessary to be performed to sign the Convention. 68. Criminal liability for trafficking in human beings is being tightened. On 23 June 2005, the Seimas passed the Law Amending Articles 48, 60, 145, 147, 157, 212, 213, 214, 215, 226, 249, 251, 252, 256, 267, 270, 272, 274 and 280 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania and Amending and Supplementing the Annex of the Code and Supplementing the Code with Articles 1471, 1991, 1992, 2671, 27 …